Following the growing concern over the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection at the global level, Pope Francis has decided to send--through the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development and with the collaboration of the Holy See’ Permanent Representative to FAO, IFAD and the World Food Program (WFP)--a symbolic donation of 25,000 euros to the WFP, as a further sign of solicitude in face of the present emergency underway.

In particular, this sum is intended to be an immediate expression of the sentiment of closeness on the part of the Holy Father to those persons affected by the pandemic, and to those that are committed in essential services in favor of the poor and of the weakest and most vulnerable persons of our society, as well as a gesture of paternal encouragement to the humanitarian endeavor of the Organization and to other countries that, in this time of crisis, would like to adhere to forms of support for integral development and public health, and to counteract the social instability, the lack of food safety, the growing unemployment and the collapse of the economic systems of the most vulnerable nations.